What would be a good Donor for a Willys Wagon upgrade?

The plan is to have a Willys Wagon as a daily driver with an automatic tranny, power steering, power brakes, upgraded axles, air conditioning, and a diesel engine.

The idea is to drop the Willys Body on a truck or suv frame.

I am wondering what diesel truck or SUV would be a good donor for this?

Have not decided yet whether to go for a somestic V-8 diesel with 3/4 or one ton rating, or to go with a smaller foriegn diesel truck or SUV.

I had considered boxing the frame of a Willys Wagon and then doing all the mods like with my 53 Willys Pickup but this seems a cheaper, simpler, and less time consuming way to go.

Let me know what you think good donor vehicles would be.

This will be at least a two year project, and plan to start with a junk yard Diesel Truck or SUV unless a great deal on one comes up.

Tom

Tom Roberts, Certified Hyperbaric Registered Nurse and Jeep Nut
53 Willys Pickup, 59 Willys Wagon, 83 Diesel 4x4 Suburban, 93 Bronco, 4x4 S-10.
I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.

Original seats are still in it. The ones I planned to use won't fit so I am looking into something different.

In the mean time I need to at least get lap belts that will work with the original seat.

All this is at Desert Fab if you want to check it out.

How goes the work on the 55?

Tom

Tom Roberts, Certified Hyperbaric Registered Nurse and Jeep Nut
53 Willys Pickup, 59 Willys Wagon, 83 Diesel 4x4 Suburban, 93 Bronco, 4x4 S-10.
I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.

Re: What would be a good Donor for a Willys Wagon upgrade?

The work on the '55 is slowwwww... unfortunately the Cherokee has been gobbling up a lot of the funds that were supposed to be for the truck.

My parents are coming out for a few weeks at Christmas time and I know my dad can't wait to get some more work done on it. I hope to get the cab off the frame and maybe get the engine pulled off too so I can send it off to get rebuilt, blueprinted, etc.

I am still interested in the original seats but in no way am I in need of them right away.

It would be great if I could get the truck ready by next year's BBQ but not sure that will happen. Perhaps the following year.

Re: What would be a good Donor for a Willys Wagon upgrade?

I would think that measuring the mounting points on the old Wagon would be a good place to start. The wheelbase would also need to be considered if you want to center the axles in the wheel wells. I have seen some hack jobs where they just welded an el camino on top of a truck frame, but to do the job right, wouldn't you want to use something that fits the body?

Re: What would be a good Donor for a Willys Wagon upgrade?

The deisel part pretty much limits your choices to 3/4 and 1 ton trucks. I bet it would take a lot of fab on the frame to make it fit the Willy's body. Have you searched the internet to see if someone else has done it. It would be much easier to copy someone else's project than to try to figure it out on your own.

I think the cheapest option would be a 1st gen Dodge CTD (late 80's/early 90's). Anything can be done. A friend of mine fit a Scout 2 body on a 1 ton Chevy frame. Another friend of mine fit a Cj5 on a J10(that one didn't turn out as good as the Scout though). One of my fabricator buddies did a TTB in an S-10 and also grafted an OLD Suburban onto a new Duramax Chevy truck for customers. I saw all these projects being done 1st hand and they all took a lot of work to get right. Take your time and make it look good. You don't want people on every 4x4 board in the world laughing at your ride. Don't embarrass the Arizona 'wheeling community with a hack job.

Re: What would be a good Donor for a Willys Wagon upgrade?

I had considered boxing the frame of a Willys Wagon and then doing all the mods like with my 53 Willys Pickup but this seems a cheaper, simpler, and less time consuming way to go.

Tom

Tom,

PM me. I have a diesel Willys Wagon project in the works, plus a 1st gen Dodge Cummins Chassis sitting in the queue. It might be good to get some measurements and real advice before jumping into your project.

The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we ALL believe that we are above-average drivers. - Unknown